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Yield: 6 people
Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
Make the ultimate comfort food for your family: Homemade Shepherd's Pie (or Cottage Pie) with ground beef – simple, yummy and easy to make. My recipe is made with a delicious filling: Ground beef, onions, carrots, celery and peas – all wrapped in a rich gravy. Then, I top it with my Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes (or regular mashed potatoes, if you're not an instant-potter 😉) and with cheddar cheese. Simple, but so comforting!See notes if you want to make this with lamb for a fully authentic version!
Recommended Equipment:
- Casserole Dish
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 clove garlic (chopped)
- 2 onions (finely chopped)
- 2 medium carrots (finely diced)
- 2 stalks celery (finely diced)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
- ground black pepper (to taste)
- 2 tablespoons white flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/3 cup red wine
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
- 1/2 teaspoon finely chopped thyme
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped rosemary
- 4 cups mashed potatoes ((click for my recipe and you’ll have some leftovers to sneak during cooking))
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 45 mins
Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
Instructions
- Brown meat and vegetables: Heat the oil over medium high heat in a large, deep skillet. Add the beef and cook until browned and all the meat juices have evaporated. Add the garlic, onions, carrots and celery and continue cooking until the veggies are starting to soften.
- Season: Sprinkle the salt, paprika, pepper and flour over the pan. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring often. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring all the time, until it smells roasted (about 1 minute).
- Deglaze the pan: Pour the red wine over the meat and veggies, scratching the browned bits off the bottom. Bring to a boil and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the broth and simmer for 4-5 minutes, or until a thick gravy has formed.
- Finish the filling: Stir in the peas and herbs. Check for seasoning, then spread in a 7×11 baking dish and set aside until cooled.
- Prep mash: In the meantime, make your favorite mashed potatoes. You need about 4 cups of mash to top off the casserole. About 1.5 pounds of peeled potatoes should yield enough.
- Bake pie: Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Spread the mashed potatoes over the cold filling. (Be careful not to mix up the two.) Sprinkle with the cheese. Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes or until golden.
Step by Step Recipe Video
Nora’s Tips
A Note About the Recipe:
It might we worth telling you right now that the technical term for this recipe is actually cottage pie (made with ground beef) and not authentic shepherd’s pie (made with ground lamb). But my mission here on Savory Nothings is always to share recipes real people with a real grocery budget and a regular grocery store and an everyday exhausting kids/work/life situation can make. So, there it is. Fake Shepherd’s Pie. Aka Homemade Shepherd’s Pie with ground beef. One that’s simple and affordable and delicious. It is the best ❤️ Feel free to use ground lamb in place of the beef for a more authentic version! Lamb tends to be more fatty, so drain it after browning if you prefer less fat.Make Ahead Instructions:
Assemble the entire pie as directed in the recipe, right up to the finally baking step. Cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days, then bake at 400°F for 30-40 minutes, or until the filling is bubbly and the top is golden.Freezer Instructions:
Prepare as directed in the recipe, right up to the final baking step. Wrap well with foil and then aluminum foil. Label and freeze for up to 2 months. To reheat: No need to defrost! Remove both foils, then replace the aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F with the foil on for 1 hour. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, until browned.Cooking tips:
Don’t be scared of adding some color: Make sure to brown the meat and vegetables well for the most intense flavors Do not skip cooling the filling: This is how you keep the layers in shepherd’s pie from mixing; depending on the dish and the room temperature, cool it for 15-30 minutes (sometimes I put mine outside in the winter, it’s cold in 15 minutes!)Ingredient Notes:
Mashed potatoes: I usually make my Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes for this, but my regular mashed potatoes are delicious, too. I’ve also had readers made this with ready-made mashed potatoes, so that’s a great shortcut. Allergy friendliness: For a gluten-free friendly version, use cornstarch in place of the flour. Be sure to check all of your ingredients to make sure they’re gluten free (especially the beef broth! you can use water if you don’t have any). If you don’t like peas, it’s also delicious with chopped green beans. I hear people make this low carb by using mashed cauliflower they whisk together with 1 egg yolk in place of the mashed potatoes. I love my potatoes, but your call 😉 You can also make this vegetarian by using 2 cups of cooked, brown lentils in place of the ground beef and vegetable broth in place of the beef broth.IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR THE BEST SIDE DISHES TO ROUND OUT YOUR MEAL, THESE ARE OUR FAVORITES:
Nutrition
Serving: 6people | Calories: 377kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 24g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 56mg | Sodium: 562mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 6g
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Try these comfort food dinners next:
- Crockpot Beef Tips and Mushroom Gravy
- Instant Pot Irish Stew
- Slow Cooker Irish Beef Stew
- Instant Pot Potato Soup
- Easy Swedish Meatballs
- Crock Pot Beef Stew
Taylor
Haven’t tried yet but can I make this with something other than red wine?
Nora Rusev
Taylor, sure! Just use extra broth.
Samantha
Your recipe sounds delicious but Shepherds pie is made with lamb not beef. Your recipe is Cottage Pie. They are often confused but it’s easy to remember if you think about a shepherd watches over his sheep not cows 😂😁
Nora Rusev
Samantha, thanks for your comment. If you check my recipe notes, I have a statement that says exactly this! Unfortunately, in the US people have no clue what a cottage pie is 🙃😂 so I named it Shepherd’s Pie, even though it does hurt my British roots 😉
Carol
Great recipe! Easy to follow and it definitely was my best ever Shephards pie that I made for my family. They all loved it!❤️
Jan
This was a hit at our house, the sauce in the meat was so flavorful. I would add extra veggies next time just because my family likes more. I didn’t measure my potatoes, but be sure not to over do them on top (which I did) because it takes away from the meat mixture. I will definitely be making this again! Oh, and it you have a chance to make anything ahead of time I would suggest it. This recipe does take some time to put together especially on a busy weeknight.
Nora Rusev
I’m so glad to hear this, Jan! And I agree, it definitely takes some time. But worth it, right? 🙂
Dan
So good! I made one small change by adding sautéed mushrooms. Definitely recommend using red wine, which really adds to the flavor.
Wanda
This was the best Shepherds Pie I ever made!
Maureen Mc Morrow
I’ve was always led to believe that Shepherds Pie was made using lamb minced. Hence Shepherd as sheep minder
Nora Rusev
Maureen, that’s correct, however that is not what reflects common use of the term “Shepherd’s Pie” at the moment. If you take the time to read through my recipe, you’ll see this at the bottom in the notes section:
It might we worth telling you right now that the technical term for this recipe is actually cottage pie (made with ground beef) and not authentic shepherd’s pie (made with ground lamb).
But my mission here on Savory Nothings is always to share recipes real people with a real grocery budget and a regular grocery store and an everyday exhausting kids/work/life situation can make.
So, there it is. Fake Shepherd’s Pie. Aka Homemade Shepherd’s Pie with ground beef. One that’s simple and affordable and delicious. It is the best ❤️
Feel free to use ground lamb in place of the beef for a more authentic version! Lamb tends to be more fatty, so drain it after browning if you prefer less fat.
Christine
This was amazing the best shepherds pie I have made!!!
The only thing i will say is it did need double the meat (I used 1lb of each beef and veal) which I put from the get go.
But everything tasted great even with extra addition.
Thanks!